I recently set what may be a new world record for guitar teaching. The record is for the longest time between lessons for a single student.
Sometimes students do have a break from lessons before coming back. So how long has this one been away: six months? A year? Ah, no. It’s actually thirty-eight years!
That’s right. My last lesson with Dave was in 1985. He was a boy learning bass guitar. I was just a boy myself, starting out as a teacher. I kept in touch with Dave for a while, for non-musical reasons, and he’s decided to finally resume lessons… thirty-eight years later. I can’t be sure this is an actual world record for the longest break, but it would certainly take some beating.
I was just starting out as a guitar teacher then, and never thought I’d still be doing it three or four decades later. Since then I’ve taught many different people. People of all ages from seven to seventy, learning all styles of music.
If I’m still doing guitar and bass lessons after all this time, I suppose I must be doing something right. Perhaps my strength is being able to relate to each student as an individual and tailor the lessons to their needs and the sort of music they like.
There’s another big difference in the lesson I did with Dave last week and the one in 1985. We did this week’s lesson online using Zoom. See, Dave lives in Bathurst 200km away from me in Sydney. Thanks to computers and the internet, it’s now possible to have a music lesson with someone who lives in another suburb, town, or even overseas. You just set up a Zoom meeting and away you go.
This trend of giving music lessons online began during the Covid lockdown, and it has caught on. Even now we’re back to normal, a couple of my Sydney students have stayed with online guitar lessons, as it saves them the travelling time of coming to my studio.
Dave in Bathurst is 200km away. That’s the furthest away I’ve done an online guitar lesson. But maybe I can set another new record by teaching someone in Perth 3000km away, or even overseas!
I must admit I was skeptical about online music lessons at first, but it actually works better than I thought. This makes it possible to teach music to anyone, anywhere.
So, no matter where you live, if you would like to try online guitar or bass lessons, send me a message and we’ll get started.